As I sat down tonight for my once-a-week online MW3 night with a buddy of mine in another state, aware that we are getting a late start and time is of the essence, and then seeing the "A system update is required" message as I booted up, and subsequently reigning down blows on the sofa in frustration that the update will do nothing to improve my personal experience, but will instead add...... Wait for it....... Captions to certain Blu Ray movies (JOY!), I have to wonder if Sony still thought it was necessary to drop these things on us at the most inopportune times and not let us download in the background while we got down to business, or if they actually swallowed their pride and let us receive these essential updates at a more convenient time....

Paul,That's a funny story, but I think it illustrates another problem with modern systems. You are no longer in control of your own console. You can play a game when some server half way around the world says you can.

I've long claimed that the patches, whether for systems or games, are really not for your benefit, despite what the companies might claim. And yet they consume your time and resources.

You can limit these headaches to some degree by keeping your consoles offline (as I try to do), but even that doesn't work all the time. With my Xbox One I occasionally have to put it online because some game requires it for install or periodic update. That infuriates me.

Heck, even Blu Ray player try to limit your control. Want to jump to the main menu while previews are in progress? That function is not available. Really, they don't have the technology to interrupt a preview?

If you set your console to automatically update during downtime, then you never have to actually see these updates. The console will update everything when it's not in use, and will also back up your save data to the server.

These updates will only be an issue for you if one or both of the following is true:

1) You don't set your console to automatically update and/or

2) You don't leave your console connected to the Internet at all times so that it can receive said updates while not in use.

I stress again that the 8th generation consoles (and to a great degree the 7th as well) were conceived as "always-on" devices--for optimal results, they are intended to be always connected to the Internet. There's an interesting story about the origins of Xbox Live on one of my favorite gaming sites, Polygon, that's very informative on this topic:http://www.polygon.com/a/the-second-generation-of-xbox-live

[QUOTE=JustLikeHeaven]I would never set up any sort of electronic device to automatically update. Not my phone, my iPad, my computer....nada.

You're much safer waiting a few days/weeks to make sure the update is actually safe to install and isn't going to turn your device into an expensive paperweight.

This is especially true with the Playstation. Sony had a nasty habit of releasing PS3 updates that would brick a bunch of older 1st/2nd generation consoles.

Sure the chances of this happening are low. I'd rather not take that chance and be forced to deal with the hassle of it all.[/QUOTE]

For me, with my schedule, that's way too much hassle. Waiting for my Mac to update, waiting for my iPad, waiting for my Xbox, waiting for my Blu Ray player (yes, these periodically require updates to conform to new anti-piracy protocols). I've always set my devices to auto-update and I've never experienced issues with it.